16th Amendment: Talks with CJ started, will continue

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday conveyed to the president the ruling party's stance on the Supreme Court verdict in the 16th amendment case.

Quader went to the Bangabhaban, the official residence of the president, around noon and came out some one and a half hours later.

AL sources said the AL spokesperson updated Abdul Hamid, who had been abroad, on the overall situation after the release of the full verdict that scraped the 16th constitutional amendment.

Passed in 2014, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution had restored parliament's powers to remove SC judges for misconduct or incapacity. Last year, the High Court declared the amendment illegal and the decision was upheld by the SC on July 3 this year. The apex court released the full verdict on Aug 1.

Since then, the ruling AL has been criticising and the BNP has been praising the verdict. Food Minister Qamrul Islam even demanded removal of the chief justice for some observations in the verdict.

A little before Quader entered the Bangabhaban yesterday, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha left it after exchanging greetings of Janmashtami, marking the birth of Lord Krishna, with the president.

“I did not know that the chief justice would be there,” Quader told journalists after the meeting. “I conveyed our party's stance on the Supreme Court verdict to the president. I explained the party's true stance on the verdict,” he said.

“I have already talked to the prime minister over the issue and conveyed the [meeting] outcome to the president who is the custodian of the state and appoints the chief justice.”

Responding to a query whether the government would file a review petition over the verdict, Quader said, “Talks with the chief justice has already started and it will continue. I don't want to comment on the matter before the discussions end.”

On Saturday night, Quader met the CJ at his official residence on Hare Road. The AL leader met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the president of the party, the next day.

According to AL insiders, the party would file a review petition with the Supreme Court, seeking to expunge some of the remarks, especially those on Bangabandhu and parliament, by the chief justice in the verdict.

The party would be able to file the review petition within 30 days of the release of the full verdict. The Supreme Court would go into its annual vacation on August 25 and the party would file the review after the vacation ends on October 1, said the insiders.

Law Minister Anisul Huq also said the government would file the review petition.

On the other hand, the AL-led 14-party alliance demanded cancellation of the observations and asked for a review of the verdict. Terming the verdict "irrelevant", "unacceptable" and "ill-motivated", the 14-party vowed to face it legally and politically.

Referring to the verdict, Quader, at a programme at Palashi in the capital yesterday afternoon, said there might be some concerns over the verdict but there was no reason to get scared.

“I have held a meeting with the chief justice over the observation of the verdict. Taking permission from our party president, we have informed our party's stance to the chief justice. Today, again on the party president's advice, I informed the honourable president what I had told the chief justice on the observation of the verdict," Quader, also the road transport minister, said.

Meanwhile, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan came down heavily on the chief justice yesterday.

Speaking at a programme in Madaripur, he said the CJ “humiliated 16 crore people of the country and undermined parliament through the verdict”.